Chapter 43

It was already six in the evening when the guests finished making their products.

Old Sir Ma Liqing had designed a cup with an ice-crackle pattern, inspired by a Ru ware dish from the Song Dynasty. It was like cracked ice, possessing a rich beauty.

Xiao Chi designed a panoramic jigsaw puzzle of the Forbidden Palace, with a whopping one thousand pieces, which was absurdly insane.

The voting period lasted until the show aired. Ji Wei’s vote count was originally the lowest, but by six in the evening, only Lu Shenxing was ahead of him, and it was probably only a matter of time before he surpassed him.

The reason was simple: Lu Shenxing’s product was just too expensive.

[I want to buy it, but then I looked at my wallet… ]

[I’ll just vote for Weiwei. At least I can afford his. Master Ma Liqing’s cup is also very nice!]

[The price is a deterrent.]

Ji Wei thought this episode was over. After all, it would take time for the factory to go into production. To his surprise, when they walked out of the Forbidden Palace, the production team’s car was waiting outside.

Their next stop was St. Lawrence.

On the way to the airport, Ji Wei saw Lu Shenxing watching a video with his headphones on, looking very serious. He couldn’t help but be a little surprised.

In his memory, Lu Shenxing rarely used his phone.

For him, the phone’s main functions were making calls and sending messages. Even though you could read books on your phone now, he insisted on carrying physical books.

In this internet age, it seemed incredibly unbelievable and out of place, but Ji Wei knew he was simply not interested.

Because his greatest interest was dedicated to acting.

“What are you watching?”

Ji Wei asked curiously.

Lu Shenxing didn’t speak, but instead handed him an earbud.

He moved closer to Lu Shenxing, took the earbud, and put it on.

The moment he put it on, he heard the clear, tinkling sound of a Guqin, which sounded a bit familiar.

He looked at the screen and saw himself in the study, strumming the Pei Zither. His face instantly flushed. It was the recording of him playing the Guqin that day.

He never thought his idol would be watching his video.

He inexplicably started to panic.

Ji Wei lowered his head and said in a very faint voice, “But I didn’t play well.”

He watched the video, and the tiny details were magnified in his eyes. He felt the vibrato here wasn’t strong enough, the timbre there wasn’t clear and bright enough…

In short, there were problems everywhere.

But the man, gazing at the phone screen, softly uttered a single word: “Like.”

Like.

Ding-dong.

That word seemed to strike Ji Wei’s heart. He didn’t say what he liked, so could he secretly interpret it as his idol liking him?

Ji Wei kept his head down, thinking he was very calm, but he didn’t notice the tips of his ears slowly turning red.

Lu Shenxing lowered his gaze.

His little one didn’t seem to be rejecting him as much anymore.

[Are there any Lu-Wei CP fans here! Sob sob sob, I’m desperately tempted to join the ship.]

[Who wouldn’t! The sweetness is killing me even through the screen.]

[Ahhhhhhhhh, my girlish heart! Mom, why does it still look like they’re dating even though they’re married!]

The plane had just landed.

The Forbidden City’s Little Shop app updated with a notification.

—Congratulations on reaching a popularity value of twenty million!

Ji Wei was quite shocked when he saw the message. Even the previous show, National Style, hadn’t gained popularity this quickly.

[Wow, the little shabby shop is amazing! I’ve already recommended it to everyone around me. I really hope we can reach thirty million to unlock the hot pot!]

[High five, I want to see the hot pot too!]

[Slow-paced variety shows are really rare. When I watch the show alone at home, time just flies by.]

Ji Wei had forgotten what the reward for reaching twenty million popularity was, but seeing the grim expressions on everyone else’s faces, his heart couldn’t help but sink.

The cultural and creative products from the Forbidden Palace couldn’t be that bad, could they?

He opened the main interface.

His whole mood soured.

Because the popularity reward was… Forbidden City Lipstick.

A group of grown men selling lipstick?

[Hahahahahahahahahaha, I really want to see this.]

[Seeing this late at night has completely woken me up! I’m screaming in bed! Sell it, sell it! I want to see the little brother swatching!]

[Actually, Weiwei doesn’t need to worry at all. His skin is so fair. If he just puts some on and stands by the door, young ladies will be willing to buy it.]

[Did you forget there’s a certain Film Emperor staring at him?]

After the group walked into the Palace Museum Little Shop, they looked at each other in dismay. It was Old Sir Ma Liqing who spoke first, “Let’s eat first.”

He took out a bundle of noodles from his suitcase, and Zhao Yue contributed a hot pot base. The group sat in the shop, eating bowls of noodles and chatting.

“Selling lipstick should be similar to selling stationery, right? It’s all about salesmanship,” Zhao Yue said after a moment of thought. “There’s no need to feel burdened. Didn’t Xiao Chi wear bright red lipstick while jumping around on stage?”

Xiao Chi was speechless. …I feel like I’ve been offended.

[Jumping around? What kind of description is that? He’s the main dancer, okay? I have a feeling these two fanbases are going to start fighting again.]

[Zhao Yue looks so confident. I highly doubt he can even tell the difference between lipstick shades. He probably doesn’t even know what swatching is.]

[I don’t think any of the guests in this group know. I’m suddenly worried about tomorrow’s business. Will they be able to sell anything?]

Old Sir Ma Liqing said, “It should be. It’s just that the customer base has changed to young girls.”

Ji Wei also nodded silently.

After chatting for a while, everyone returned to their rooms to rest, gathering their energy for the store’s opening tomorrow.

After washing up, Ji Wei lay down on the bed.

He opened the app’s voting page. Each registered user could cast five votes a day. The notebook he designed was already close to five million votes. The required number of votes for production was five million, so there shouldn’t be a problem.

Ji Wei breathed a sigh of relief. Just as he was about to put down his phone, he suddenly remembered the 800-word long-form post Lu Shenxing had assigned him, so he opened WeChat.

He recalled Lu Shenxing’s interview and recounted it almost verbatim. In less than ten minutes, a long social media post of eight hundred words was written.

He clicked send.

He put down his phone, ready to sleep, but in the next second, he smelled a cold, woody scent lingering around him.

It wouldn’t go away.

It wouldn’t dissipate.

He turned his head. Lu Shenxing had finished his shower and was lying next to him. A few drops of water still clung to the ends of the man’s hair, rolling down to his prominent Adam’s apple.

Ji Wei’s breath caught, and he slowly asked, “Isn’t there another bed in the room?”

The bed was a single bed, so it would be a bit crowded for two people. He didn’t mind, but he was mainly worried that his idol wouldn’t sleep well.

The man calmly replied, “I’m used to it.”

Although they had indeed been sleeping in the same bed for a long time, why could his idol say it so matter-of-factly?

Ji Wei’s face was beet red.

Fortunately, the man turned off the light, and the room was instantly plunged into darkness. No one could see his expression. He could blush in secret, listening to his heartbeat gradually calm down.

Neither of them spoke again.

Lu Shenxing’s phone screen remained lit, as if he were busy chatting. The faint light illuminated his expression, which was one of unusual focus.

Ji Wei wrapped the quilt around himself and couldn’t help but ask, “We have to get up early tomorrow. Aren’t you going to sleep yet?”

Hearing his words, his idol narrowed his eyes slightly. His typing hands paused as he replied, “Soon.”

Perhaps sensing that his tone was off, he put down his phone and, as if to soothe him, leaned in to kiss his forehead. Ji Wei prepared himself to receive the kiss, but the man stopped.

Ji Wei was stunned for a moment, then saw the man pick up his phone again.

Although he had said “soon,” fifteen minutes passed, and his idol showed no intention of putting down his phone.

Ji Wei suddenly couldn’t sleep.

Who is he chatting with?

Why is he still chatting so late?

He’s never chatted with me for this long.

All sorts of possibilities popped into his head. The more he thought, the less sleepy he became. He felt he needed to post on Weibo to calm down.

He picked up his phone and switched to his Weibo side account.

[Brother Lu’s Little Fanboy]: Lying in the same bed with my partner, but he keeps chatting with someone else. Is this normal? (Addendum: We got married through a blind date.)

A couple of his familiar fan friends immediately commented.

[Lu Wei is Real]: I was about to say it’s not normal, but seeing that you got married through a blind date, it’s probably quite normal. You reached the age where you had to get married, and you don’t have any feelings for each other.

[Lulu ah]: Uh… Lu-Wei also got married through a blind date. This has nothing to do with whether it was a blind date or not. It’s obvious he just doesn’t love you. He has someone else in his heart.

[Sir Teaches Me]: Maybe it’s an ex or something.

Ji Wei felt that reading Weibo was making it even harder to sleep. He consoled himself, thinking it was no big deal even if he was chatting with an ex. But he still opened WeChat.

He stared at Lu Shenxing’s profile picture, lost in thought for a while.

As he was about to close his phone, he noticed a new social media notification. He clicked on it and saw that Lu Shenxing had “liked” his 800-word long-form post.

Just.

Just a “like.”

His mind was in even more of a mess. When he backed out, he saw that his feed had refreshed with many new posts.

And they were all from the same person.

[Lu Shenxing]: Had noodles with Ji Wei for dinner [Image]

[Lu Shenxing]: Arrived in St. Lawrence with Ji Wei [Image]

[Lu Shenxing]: Ji Wei painting [Video]

[Lu Shenxing]: Ji Wei playing the Guqin [Video]

***

Ji Wei was stunned. His idol wasn’t chatting with someone else; he had posted forty updates related to him on his social media!

He thought about his earlier petty feelings and suddenly felt his face flush.

He probably felt bad that he had to write an 800-word long-form post, so after he posted, his idol also started trying to use social media to post content related to him.

Although he was quite happy about it, he couldn’t help but worry for his idol. Would his idol really not get blocked for this?

He scrolled to the very bottom.

Lu Shenxing’s first post was displayed.

[Lu Shenxing]: Sharing a good article.

His idol could be quite artistic at times. When he was younger, he had even wanted to be a literary worker and had self-published a collection of poems. A “good article” in his opinion must be very good.

With a desire to learn, Ji Wei clicked on the image.

The moment the image popped up, Ji Wei’s mind went bang, like a firework exploding.

His idol’s first social media post…

was his 800-word long-form post.

What kind of divine man was his idol?